User blog:Romanoff Blitzer/The Hitchhiker's Guide to Tawil (Tawil Deck Primer Redux)
So WX-06 Fortune Selector finally came out, and Tawil is already topping tournaments, with at least three decks posted on Twitter by hobby stores (recorded by the WIXOSS Hanayo blog). At the same time, TradeCardsOnline finally added WX-06 Fortune Selector to its list of WIXOSS sets, and with that, I finally got some practical experience with Tawil in. It appears she is a lot better than expected, and quite a few assertions I made from the first Tawil article were incorrect. I'm glad to be proven wrong, but mildly embarrassed that I complained at all. Let that be a lesson to all complainers out there. Of course, I wasn't entirely wrong. The article just needs an update, and by update, I mean rewrite from scratch. Why would I spend so much time on a LRIG I've done already? Because I'm honest and don't like making people believe outdated information. __TOC__ 'How to Tawil Redux' Tawil is a primarily defensive LRIG that sets up fields of high-powered SIGNI. Between Munkarun, Aphrodite, and Gabrie, with Tawil-Fyra's Constant on top, Tawil's SIGNI generally cannot be killed by opposing level 4 SIGNI. Then, using Rabiel, Xeno Multiple, and her own abilities, Tawil pokes down the opponent's Life Cloth, until she can drop Wish Crisis into double Aphrodites for the win. To support her defense, Tawil has many ways to search out exactly the SIGNI she needs. Nakirun is the main card advantage generator of the deck, while Haniel and Michael ensure that you fill up all of your SIGNI spaces each turn. Wish Crisis, while it searches, is more of a finisher card with Aphrodite, although it can ensure SIGNI consistency as well. Tawil is not a very ener-hungry deck. Due to the generally low cost of white ARTS, Tawil-Fyra's abilities costing no ener to use, and Angels not having many ener abilities, you end up with a good chunk of ener and nothing to spend it on. Since you need Angels in your trash to use Tawil-Fyra's abilities, this can actually be a problem. Frequently, your Angels will get stuck in your ener, and you are unable to move them into the trash. Since nearly all white ARTS are defensive, and there are few options for offensive white ARTS, you usually can't move cards to ener as you choose. 'LRIG' *'Tawil-Noll, Prolonged of Life' *'Tawil-Ett, Prolonged of Life' *'Tawil-Två, Prolonged of Life' *'Tawil-Tre, Prolonged of Life' Standard vanilla LRIGs. Not particularly exciting, but always useful. Better than Umr-Ett, Wielder of the Key of Creation. The only talking point here is the art. *'Tawil-Fyra, Prolonged of Life' Tawil-Fyra is a great card that serves many purposes, unlike Umr-Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Creation. (Poor Umuru.) Her Constant is useful, although less that it would normally be, since Gabrie and Munkarun already have over 12000 power. However, it makes Kiuael bigger than most level 4 SIGNI and Nakirun and Archold bigger than most level 3 SIGNI. It also lets Munkarun hit level 4 vanillas and level 5s, and lets Gabrie wall those level 4 vanillas and level 5s. The main draw to Tawil-Fyra is her second Action, which trashes enemy SIGNI for no ener cost. It's not hard to get seven Angels of different names in your trash, especially if you set your deck up correctly, and you will usually hit 7 by the time you hit level 4. Trashing is much stronger than your typical banish or bounce, as it prevents your opponent from gaining ener for defensive ARTS. A lesser function of Tawil's Action is to return Angels to your deck, letting you search for them again and makes it so that you will never end up refreshing. You will almost never use Tawil-Fyra's first action, as the second action is very easy to set up. It's generally used if you really really need that banish, if there's an Angel you need to return to your deck, or if you get 14 angels in your trash. Somehow. 'ARTS' The nice thing about Tawil is that, since she's not ener-hungry, you'll always build a nice stack of ener each game, which means you always have the opportunity to use ARTS. Unless your opponent FracLocks you. The other thing about Tawil is that she already generates SIGNI very well, making things like Oversalvage and Avon unnecessary. You can devote nearly all of your ARTS space to defensive ARTS. *'Baroque Defense' Classic spot defense card. Generally used to plug small, one-lane holes in your defense, like if your opponent has a Miao, Phantom Beast or Ordnance, Roaring Gun. *'Idol Defense' Tends to be an expensive, conditional Don't Move. At best (which isn't too often), it's very strong, single-handedly stopping final turns for no cost. At worst, it's dead useless and Rabiel fodder. Thankfully, being ener-light, Tawil can afford to pay the 5 cost, and sometimes even the 8 cost. Dead useless against Piruluk. *'Pinch Defense' Premier defense card. Blocks two whole attacks for only two ener. Generally you shouldn't use it when you can only block one attack with it, but sometimes you will need to do so. *'Soap Summon' Usually, you use this during the first few turns to ensure that you play as much SIGNI as you can each turn. If you're unlucky and end up with no level 1 SIGNI in your starting hand, you can use Soap Summon to grab Haniel, which can search for another level 1 SIGNI itself, to ensure that you play two SIGNI at level 1. If your Soap Summon survives the early game, it becomes a decent defensive ARTS against SIGNI. It's particularly strong if your opponent opens up two SIGNI lanes expecting easy crushes; just drop Soap Summon into Rabiel and use Rabiel's ability to bounce one SIGNI and block the other. *'Spell Salvage' Tawil is very, very dependent on drawing Wish Crisis when she needs it. If she doesn't draw one, or is forced to expend Wish Crisis to build her field, then she can have trouble finishing opponents. This is where Spell Salvage comes in. With it, you can ensure you can Wish Crisis into Aphrodite exactly when you need it. *'Spirit Salvage' A second copy of whatever ARTS you need. You will usually retrieve Baroque Defense or Pinch Defense with it, although it can be used to recur Soap Summon or Spell Salvage. *'Xeno Multiple' Another classic defensive card. However, since the only blue sources you have are Multi Ener cards, it can be difficult to get the two Servants in your ener, especially since you need to save some for guarding. Also, it can only directly stop one SIGNI attack. Still good, though. 'SIGNI' Due to Tawil-Fyra's second Constant, you should run one copy of as many Angels as you can. Generally, you will end up running one of every Angel, aside from important ones like Munkarun, Nakirun, and Haniel. You could take out one or two of the unimportant Angels for utility spells, though. 'Level 4' *'Munkarun, Elder Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb' Tawil's premier SIGNI. Always run four. With Tawil-Fyra's Constant and its own Constant, Munkarun always bigger than most enemy SIGNI. If you have all three Angels out, Munkarun reaches 15000, allowing her to hit level 4 vanillas and level 5 SIGNI. Munkarun's second Constant makes her presence nearly impossible to remove, sort of like Piloted Sky Golem. Removal is mostly useless against her, forcing the opponent to resort to things like Don't Move and Ansap Aztec. Very helpful when you're trying to end the game, or are faced with mass removal like Hanayo Five or Black Desire. Munkarun's Life Burst is amazing, refilling your hand with strong SIGNI when you need it most. At its worst, it's redundant, but that's not a big deal. *'Aphrodite, Flower Bloom of Late Beginnings' Primarily for use with Wish Crisis. Run two or three, depending on whether you want to ensure having Aphrodites in your deck. With a hardcast Wish Crisis, you can drop two Aphrodites and trash two SIGNI at once, a very strong finisher. Tawil can afford to pay the cost when it counts. Oftentimes, though, you will only need one Aphrodite, and the other SIGNI from Wish Crisis can be Munkarun or Gabrie. A frequent problem you will run into is not having enough Aphrodites in the deck to combo with Wish Crisis. Sometimes your Aphrodites will wind up in your hand, or worse, your Life Cloth. In that case, you can use Tawil-Fyra to recycle your Aphrodites back into the deck, but that isn't always easy. Sometimes you will need to expend Spirit Salvage or Spell Salvage just to put Angels into the trash. If you want to ensure having Aphrodites, run three, although two of this and two of Gabrie is sufficient. As an aside, Aphrodite's second Constant can trigger off of Wish Crisis's Life Burst, because it's not an on-play. *'Gabrie, Future of the Archangel' Level 4 vanilla. Run at least one, maybe two. With Tawil-Fyra's Constant, Gabrie outpowers pretty much all SIGNI, preventing her from being killed by battle. Generally, the only way for your opponent to overcome Gabrie by battle is with Adamasphere + Diabride or Seiryu + Beiar. Otherwise, your opponent is forced to use removal. *'Arcgain, Archangel of Pioneering' Running Arcgain in Tawil is not unheard of, both for her Life Burst and the fact that she's another distinct Angel for Tawil-Fyra's effect. Due to Tawil's lack of Life Burst options, running Arcgain seems especially attractive. I don't think she's necessary, however, and the deck can be set up to not require her. 'Level 3' *'Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb' Main card advantage generator. Run four. Running three is possible, but a big stretch. Cards like Shark Lance and Valkyrie have proven to be very strong, generating a card with a simple down, and Nakirun is no exception. Nakirun replaces herself, guarantees that you have two SIGNI on the third turn, and unlike Valkyrie she can search out level 4s. Downing her followed by trashing her with Wish Crisis has many uses, from guaranteeing Munkarun/Gabrie/Kiuael to fetching MORE Nakiruns to generate MORE cards. She should be placed in front of a SIGNI smaller than her, so your opponent has to get rid of that SIGNI themselves if they want to get rid of Nakirun. *'Kiuael, Faint Smile of Sacrifice' Kiuael stands out from the other clones in that she is a level 3 SIGNI with 12000 power. As such, she has 13000 power taking Tawil-Fyra's Constant into account, walling level 4 SIGNI. Best when grouped with two other level 4s, but can also be searched out at level 3 with Nakirun for a 12k body. *'Raphae, From Your Tomorrow' Kiuael, but weaker. Like Kiuael, she can outpower most opposing level 3 SIGNI, but unlike Kiuael, she can't fight level 4 SIGNI. Fetch her if you don't want to play Kiuael yet, or if Kiuael is stuck in your trash or Life Cloth. *'Archold, Gospel of the Future' Notable for being the only unrestricted Angel SIGNI with Life Burst. Otherwise not that strong. Since 7000 power is relatively low, her power boost is unlikely to stick, and your opponent will simply banish her first before attacking your other SIGNI. As a SIGNI with Life Burst, though, you should still run Archold, since Tawil is sorely lacking in Life Burst variety. 'Level 2' *'Rabiel, Protector of Holy Arts' Great for final pushes, and for defense with Soap Summon. Against fast decks where you won't use up all of your ARTS anyways, or against slow decks without threatening finishers, it's worth using Rabiel. However, in slow, grindy match-ups where you need all of your defensive ARTS to survive, like Piruluk, Tama, and Iona Mayu, it's not worth using up an ARTS for Rabiel. *'Michael, Voice of Reconciliation' Similarly to Haniel, she ensures SIGNI consistency. Can fetch Urie or Ciel for a solid body or ensure that you hit Nakirun on turn 3. *'Ciel, Fictitious Love' *'Urie, Sudden Ruination' Having 8000 power compared to 7000 is a notable distinction when dealing with level 3 SIGNI with 7000 power, but the difference really isn't that important. Ciel and Urie are interchangeable, and both serve the same purpose of being solid level 2 bodies. 'Level 1' *'Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking' Necessary card. Haniel helps immensely when she's the only level 1 in your starting hand, as she can search out another SIGNI to guarantee two SIGNI on the first turn. If you end up with no level 1s in your starting hand, then you can grab Haniel with Soap Summon, which has the same effect. The discard also helps fuel Tawil-Fyra's abilities. Haniel isn't very useful outside the first few turns, though. Since you're running four of her and you usually don't have a reason to put her on the field, she can interfere with the different-names requirement of Tawil-Fyra's ability. You could chain-search with her though; use her to search for Michael, who searches for Nakirun, who searches for the Angel of your choice. Pretty draining on the hand, though. You should run four; however, it is possible to go balls-in and run little to no level 1s in your deck at all, relying on a first-turn Soap Summon to grab Haniel. This allows you to reduce space in your deck for stronger SIGNI or utility spells, which is great because in Tawil decks, deck space is tight. However, it comes at the cost of possibly not having a level 1 during your second turn, and giving up having Soap Summon for later. *'Saniel, Focus of Philanthropy' *'Sarie, Improvement of Historical Fact' Not much different between Saniel and Sarie, except the fact that Sarie is cuter. Saniel has a higher power through her ability, but during the early game your other Angels are easily killed, lowering Saniel's power. On the other hand, Saniel can kill 5k SIGNI such as Servant D that Sarie cannot. 'Spells' Due to Tawil's limited Life Burst options, you usually cannot afford to run non-Life Burst spells. If you want to, you'll have to get rid of either Raphae, Ciel, or Urie. Kiuael is too useful and Saniel and Sarie contribute to your level 1 count. *'Wish Crisis' Wish Crisis used to suck. Tawil made it usable. Tama has absolutely no need for Wish Crisis. She already had amazing search options, like Get Index and Valkyrie, and generally did not run many Angel SIGNI (the most prominent ones were Arcgain and Athena). She got better and better options as more sets were released, leaving Wish Crisis dead useless. But now, we have Tawil, whose unique circumstances make Wish Crisis good. *The existence of Aphrodite opens up a possible combo with Wish Crisis. *Unlike Tama decks, Tawil decks don't use that much ener, making a Wish Crisis + Aphrodite combo viable. *Tama already has insane finishers, such as Mega Ultra Spoiler and Arc Aura. Tawil is relatively lacking in finishers, so she must run Wish Crisis Aphrodite. *Tama has plenty of Life Burst options, while Tawil has extremely limited Life Burst options. As a result, you have to run many copies of Wish Crisis to compensate. If it sounds like Tawil compares unfavorably to Tama, that's because everyone compares unfavorably to Tama. Tama OP. As it is now, though, Wish Crisis is an excellent card in a Tawil deck. Wish Crisis is mainly there to combo with Aphrodite, but it can also be used to secure SIGNI consistency. Especially good if used with a downed Nakirun. Also good if used to play Nakiruns, as you can down those to grab SIGNI anyways. *'Soap Sudden' The other Life Burst option for Tawil decks. As a result, you have to run at least one. Two is fine too. Soap Sudden is okay. It is primarily used to clear a SIGNI lane while you have your SIGNI wall set-up and your opponent has three SIGNI up. The SIGNI downed for Soap Sudden can also be combined with Wish Crisis to produce fresh SIGNI. Soap Sudden isn't as highly-impacting as Wish Crisis can be, but in combination with your other removal options, Soap Sudden can help clear the opponent's field for a finish. Due to Tawil's lack of ener constraints, you can easily use Soap Sudden for 3 or even 5 ener, which is useful if you need some SIGNI to stay upped for attacks. As a Life Burst, Soap Sudden is very strong. Outside of the early game, you will always have one Angel SIGNI that can survive the enemy's attacks, long enough for Soap Sudden's Life Burst to trigger and trash a SIGNI. *'Get Almandal' Two cards for one makes Get Almandal decent, but the fact that it doesn't have Life Burst makes it hard to put into the deck. Note that you can search out Haniel or Michael with the first part of the effect, which can then chain-search into Nakirun to get the SIGNI you want. Note that the second part of the effect has no restriction in what SIGNI you search, which is useful if you're desperate for guards. *'THREE OUT' Decent card advantage. Tawil doesn't quite need it, though, since she already has plenty of other card advantage options. The fact that it's blue makes it hard to pay for, and it can step on the toes of your Xeno Multiple, but it can also be used to pay for Xeno Multiple's cost. *'Next Ready' What else are you going to do with the LRIG cards under Tawil? Next Ready is mostly for the draw. The ener charge is nice, but not always useful due to Tawil's lack of ener constraints. The mill is useful for fueling Tawil-Fyra's abilities and possibly putting your opponent closer to refreshing. The ability-taking is generally not that useful, but it has its niche uses. Next Ready is a solid card, but, like Get Almandal and THREE OUT, is hard to put into the deck since it doesn't have Life Burst. 'Example Decklist' LRIG: Tawil-Noll, Prolonged of Life Tawil-Ett, Prolonged of Life Tawil-Två, Prolonged of Life Tawil-Tre, Prolonged of Life Tawil-Fyra, Prolonged of Life ARTS: Baroque Defense / Spirit Salvage Pinch Defense Soap Summon Spell Salvage Xeno Multiple / Idol Defense SIGNI: (34) Level 1: (10) W 4x Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking C 3x Servant O (LB) W 1x Saniel, Focus of Philanthropy W 1x Sarie, Improvement of Historical Fact C 1x Servant O2 Level 2: (8) C 4x Servant D (LB) W 1x Ciel, Fictitious Love W 1x Michael, Voice of Reconciliation W 1x Rabiel, Protector of Holy Arts W 1x Urie, Sudden Ruination Level 3: (9) W 4x Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb C 2x Servant T (LB) W 1x Archold, Gospel of the Future (LB) W 1x Kiuael, Faint Smile of Sacrifice W 1x Raphae, From Your Tomorrow Level 4: (7) W 4x Munkarun, Elder Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb W 2x Aphrodite, Flower Bloom of Late Beginnings W 1x Gabrie, Future of the Archangel Spells: (6) W 3x Soap Sudden (LB) W 3x Wish Crisis (LB) W: 30 C: 10 Angels: 24 Levels 1 and 2 are where you are at your weakest, as you have to scrounge around for SIGNI. Often you will have to lay down your Servants rather than save them for guarding, which makes a large difference if you're up against Piruluk. Use Soap Summon if necessary to ensure that you have all of your lanes filled. At level 3, you gain access to Nakirun, which near-singlehandedly ensure that your SIGNI lanes will be filled. Nakirun can search for Haniel or Michael to search for more SIGNI if necessary, but it is more likely that you will grab Kiuael or Raphae to further your board position or Munkarun to secure a strong SIGNI for level 4. Level 4 is where you hit your stride. Between Munkarun, Gabrie, and Kiuael, you can wall your opponent's SIGNI easily, forcing your opponent to find alternate ways of dealing with your SIGNI. You tend to hit seven Angel SIGNI in the trash around the time you hit level 4, as well, so you can trash a SIGNI. On any given turn, if you don't think you can finish off your opponent by clearing all of their SIGNI, then poke holes in your opponent's defense and attack their SIGNI to wear them down. Unless they're Anne or Piruluk or something, their Life Cloth will eventually be worn down to 2 or so, allowing you to final turn by playing Wish Crisis into Aphrodite, bouncing with Rabiel or Xeno Multiple, or trashing with Tawil-Fyra. Since all of your removal comes in the form of trashing or bouncing, removing your opponent's SIGNI won't give them ener to use ARTS. Make sure that they can't react to your assault, though; don't go all-in and burn all of your resources only to be rekt by Ansap Aztec. Always watch your opponent's ener and predict what defensive ARTS they may be using. If your opponent has too much ener, then you will eventually have to spend some of your removal anyways just to threaten your opponent enough to root out your opponent's defensive ARTS. 'Matchups' Difficulty levels: *1/5: Opponent is dead meat *2/5: Fairly easy *3/5: Challenging *4/5: Uphill battle *5/5: Fuck 'Anne' *'Difficulty: 4/5' Anne is not overpowered, but boy, I hate playing against her. The problem is that Tawil is heavily dependent on Tawil-Fyra and SIGNI effects to remove SIGNI. Which would be fine, except for Contempora. Contempora is a loathsome pain in the ass, and with her on the field, Tawil has very few ways to push offense through. Take that with the fact that Anne's SIGNI are just as high-powered as yours, Anne can potentially run you out of cards. In general, Tawil's offense is only medium, and Anne can hold her off easily. Contempora prevents you from opening SIGNI lanes, and even if you do manage to open a SIGNI lane, Anne-Fourth, Melody of Horror can prevent you from hitting through the few open lanes you have. At worst, Contempora is unkillable due to Suiboku, Single Stroke Worthy of Nobility, while Anne never seems to run out of ener. If you manage to go first, exploit your opponent's pre-level 4 turns as much as possible. When you hit 4 before your opponent hits 4, use Tawil-Fyra, Rabiel, and Aphrodite to open as many lanes as possible, because you're not going to get that opportunity again. Since Anne's offense is weak, don't worry about squandering guards or ARTS; you should focus on opening lanes as much as you can. Soap Sudden, Xeno Multiple, and Next Ready can all remove Contempora from the field, even temporarily, so save these for when you can open up as many lanes as possible. Before then, though, you shouldn't be afraid to using Tawil-Fyra's abilities just to return SIGNI to your deck, even if your opponent has Contempora on the field. 'Hanayo (Standard Hanayo Five)' *'Difficulty: 2.5/5' Mildly troublesome. Unlike Yuzuki, Hanayo has a few ways to outpower your SIGNI. You should expect to lose a few Life Cloth during the early phases of the game: however, you should also expect to be able to get quite a few shots on your opponent's Life Cloth, as Hanayo decks tend to run no defensive ARTS. Sometimes it is possible to end the game before they hit level 5 with Aphrodites. Always have Munkarun prepared when your opponent hits 5. Other than See Through the Fiery Ambition, Hanayo has no efficient way to deal with Munkarun. None of her removal works well against Munkarun, including her Exceed 5, and your opponent's only option is to ram her with Diabride, squandering Hanayo Five's given Double Crush. (Be wary, though, if your opponent has a way to remove both Munkarun and the SIGNI her Constant plays to your side. It's unlikely, but possible.) Try to save your Soap Summons for when Diabride hits the field. Diabride's Constant ability does not help against ARTS that play SIGNI to your side, such as Soap Summon, Ancient Surprise, and White Hope. (One of the reasons for the enduring popularity of Ancient Surprise, certainly.) 'Hanayo Ni Kai' *'Difficulty: 3/5' Medium-difficulty matchup. Expect the worst. Be prepared to lose a lot of your SIGNI turn after turn from things such as Amethyst, Gun Smoke Flame Aura, Hisui, and other nasty banishes. Use your defensive ARTS only when they would be fully effective, and try to save your defensive ARTS for double crush SIGNI like Ammolite. Unlike most decks, you should attack enemy SIGNI every turn: in a Hanayo Ni Kai deck, all of their SIGNI are threatening, and Hanayo Ni Kai decks will eventually run out of gas if pushed too far. Don't expect it to be easy to run the opponent out of resources, though. Hanayo Ni Kai decks have many options to refill their hand, such as Wake Up and THREE OUT. They will run out eventually, though. Hanayo is not Piruluk. Try not to be stuck at three Life Cloth when your opponent goes for game. If you have only two, you can use Pinch Defense. 'Iona (Iona Ultima)' *'Difficulty: 2.5/5' Fairly easy matchup. Tawil has no problem dealing with the problem SIGNI of the matchup, Quinn and Vimana, and does not fear Rikabuto. When your opponent hits Iona, Ultima/Maiden, Tawil can play the defensive game just as well as she can, and has a better offense due to Tawil-Fyra's abilities. This is a tentative statement. More research on optimal Iona play needs to be done. 'Iona (IonaMayu)' *'Difficulty: 4/5' Munkarun does not fare well against effects that decrease power. Since having 0 power is being banished by a game rule and not a card effect, Munkarun's Constant just doesn't happen. As such, you don't have a lot of insurance against IonaMayu, what with Vimana and Marsface and Ancient Surprise... More research needed. 'Midoriko (Three-Stop)' *'Difficulty: 2/5' Fairly easy. Works much the same way as Hanayo Ni Kai, except slightly less threatening. Use your defensive ARTS on Lancer SIGNI, such as Miao and Misuzaku. Eventually, when you hit 4, your SIGNI will outpower theirs and they will run out of gas, leaving them dead in the water unless they draw a Komaris. You don't need to get rid of all of their SIGNI each turn: you just need to take care of the problem SIGNI, Miao, Misuzaku, and Komaris. Watch for Big Bangs. 'Piruluk' *'Difficulty: 4.5/5' One of Tawil's hardest matchups. One of Tawil's biggest strength is high-powered SIGNI. Piruluk does not give a fuck about high-powered SIGNI. Rarely, she will be able to banish several of your SIGNI with Code Love Heart CMR and BAD CONDITION, but most of the time, she will whittle you down with LRIG attacks while putting chump SIGNI between herself and the opponent. Hoard as many guards in your hand as possible, and try to guard all of her attacks. Avoid using Rabiel's ability, as you will need to expend all of your ARTS (except maybe Soap Summon) to protect yourself against LRIG attacks. As your opponent approaches level 5, try to dump all the cards in your hand, as Code Piruluk ACRO will discard what's left anyways. At the same time, don't expend too much of your opponent's cards, as your opponent is just going to regenerate it all back with ACRO's Exceed. Piruluk has enough draw to supply herself with practically infinite amounts of fodder SIGNI, and even if you clear away some with effects, Piruluk will simply use a defensive ARTS such as Ancient Surprise or Don't Move to stop your attacks. Try to get exactly one SIGNI lane open each turn to encourage your opponent to use their defensive ARTS inefficiently to protect their Life Cloth. At the same time, don't give them too much ener for their defensive ARTS. Tawil has no way to get around defensive ARTS, so she has to face them head-on. Don't be afraid to use Pinch Defense or Xeno Multiple if your opponent has no SIGNI lanes open; Piruluk doesn't care about opening SIGNI lanes much anyways. Still, be wary of CMR and BAD CONDITION. An alternate strategy is to avoid letting the Piruluk player get to late game by trying to end the game around level 4 or 5. This requires a good amount of ener and trash removal like Wish Crisis + Aphrodite, and it is somewhat risky. 'Yuzuki (Standard Yuzuki Five)' *'Difficulty: 1/5' One of Tawil's easiest matchups. Yuzuki has no effective way to get around your large SIGNI. Yuzuki Four Armament may let your opponent out-power your Kiuael, but your level 4 SIGNI tend to have 15000 power or more on car insurance. Yuzuki can also use Mušḫuššu or See Through the Fiery Ambition, but defensive ARTS can take care of those, even if Yuzuki burns your ener away. Eventually, Yuzuki will run out of gas, as she doesn't have a lot of draw options, and you will pretty much have won. 'Yuzuki (Yuzunayo)' *'Difficulty: 1/5' As easy as standard Yuzuki for the same reasons. Adamasphere is not a problem. You may pressured early-on by cards such as Hisui or Amethyst, but as long as you use your defensive ARTS wisely it should not be a big deal. A possible tactic is to hold back Hisui/Amethyst targets in your hand so your opponent won't be able to use their effects, then use Soap Summon to close off a SIGNI lane. 'Other Matchups' Maybe later. No one plays Tama or level 4/5 Midoriko at TCO, I need to study Iona more, and the rest of the decks are bad. (Banalrun with Mind Mines and Fortune Five runs rampant. I really need to get to that Mirurun article.) (Why don't people play Tama? Is she boring? She's crazy ridiculous, being meta in Japan. Of course, I'm only counting the good Tama decks, of which I have seen none...) 'Closing Remarks' This article turned out to be a lot more detailed that I expected. It's certainly a lot larger than the Hitchhiker's Guide's entry on the planet Earth. I regret nothing. Category:Blog posts